SQUAT-vember
With spooky season coming to a close I’m sure one thing is on everyone’s minds. No 
not Mariah Carey’s saucy song All I Want for Christmas is You. No not the Thanksgiving Feast coming your way soon or the Thanksgiving 5k if you’re from one of those families (We love fitness, but hope you’re not). We are talking about have the most massive quads and hamstrings ever. The quickest way to gaining those tree trucks of legs SQUATS. The squat is the one of the most commonly messed up lifts and can be one of the more intimidating to tackle if you haven’t done it before. I am going to throw in a few tips and tricks to help you out if you need a refresher or just getting started.
Practice on air, the best way to obtain perfect form is practice, practice, and practice. Make sure your feet are shoulder width apart and pointed forward, having your toes pointed in or out will work different parts of your leg muscles and could lead to an injury. As you drop into your squat keep your back straight, bending at the back can lead to serious injury. Next, get low and we mean low, going low on a squats helps activate all the muscles in your legs. If you do not get low enough some muscles will not see the benefits of squatting. Now that you have all the form tips don’t forget to breathe, breathe in on your way down and out on your way up.
It’s finally time to put that barbell on your back and there are two places you can put it. First, the high-bar technique is much like it sounds. You place the bar on the higher part of your neck resting it on your traps. Second, is the low-bar technique and yes you guessed it, the bar is lower on your back resting on the shoulder blades. This all comes down to preference and what is comfortable for you, one technique is not better than the other.
My final word of advice as always is don’t be afraid to look silly, this is a learning experience and you won’t be perfect right away. Don’t overdo it low weight doesn’t make you any less strong, fall in love with the process and you’ll see improvement.
-Fitness is a competition with yourself
-Ryan Harvot